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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26145091">My Best Catch</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse'>JoMouse</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Direction (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Childhood Friends, Don't copy to another site, Familiars, Happy Ending, Harry Potter References, M/M, Magic, Magical Tattoos, Memory Alteration, Memory Magic, Orphan Liam Payne, Past Character Death, Tattoos, Warlock Zayn Malik</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:15:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,771</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26145091</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam's life hasn't been an easy one, but it's more or less normal.</p><p>That is until he wanders into Malik's Magical Markings.</p><p>Written for the <a href="HTTP://ziamfantasyfest.tumblr.com">2020 Ziam Fantasy Fest</a>.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Zayn Malik/Liam Payne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Ziam Fantasy Fest</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>My Best Catch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Greetings and Salutations!</p><p>I know, I've been away from the fandom for a bit, but I'm back and hopefully will be contributing on a more regular basis again soon (it all depends on my muse who has been laying his affections elsewhere lately).</p><p>I hesitated to sign up for the Fantasy Fest because fantasy really isn't my genre, but the prompt called to me so I chose it and got it and started writing it. Then I stalled...badly...like was ready to throw it all away and drop out badly, but I was saved by the wonderful <a href="HTTP://https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aliceinwonderland/pseuds/Aliceinwonderland&gt;Mara&lt;/a&gt;%20who%20spent%20many%20hours%20reading%20over%20what%20I'd%20written%20and%20brainstorming%20with%20me.%20%20I%20swear%20to%20you,%20without%20her%20and%20her%20amazing%20patience%20and%20support,%20this%20story%20would%20not%20be%20here;%20it%20would%20still%20be%20in%20my%20drafts%20on%20GoogleDocs%20never%20to%20see%20the%20light%20of%20day.%20Thank%20you,%20Mara.%20You%20are%20an%20angel!%0A%0AAlso,%20huge%20and%20amazing%20thanks%20to%20&lt;a%20href=">Marie</a> for the superfast beta (I finished this monster on the day of the deadline and am now posting it when I should be sleeping before a ridiculous twelve-hour shift). You have been a loyal and supportive and reliable beta for over a year now and I am so very very lucky to have had you fall into my life. Thank you.</p><p>A thank you to my beautiful friend Jenn as well who cheerleads me when I need it and is always there to put a smile on my face. I love you, my friend.</p><p>So, here is my story based (very loosely - I got a little lost) on the following prompt:</p><p>Zayn is a magical tattoo artist. Liam goes to him thinking he's a regular tattoo artist, completely unaware magic exists. At least until he gets home and his now healed tattoo starts moving around.</p><p>I hope you enjoy this labour of love!</p><p>Much, much love to all of you for reading!</p><p>xx-Joey</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Liam double-checked the email address on the website again before hitting send. It had taken him almost a year to save up his tips from the coffee shop he worked the overnight shift at to amass, hopefully, enough money to get his first tattoo. Liam had spent many nights researching different shops. He’d almost given up on finding one that felt right when he’d stumbled across the site for Malik’s Magic Markings. The reviews were all positive and the photos that were posted on the site were amazing. The images looked so realistic he swore they were alive. He’d checked the prices listed and thought he’d made a pretty good guess, but this email with a photo and detailed description would hopefully gain him an actual estimate on the price and not just one of his slightly educated guesses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d saved over fifteen hundred pounds from his tips that year, putting away about half of what he’d earned each week until the jar he was keeping them in was filled to the brim. He’d been fortunate there hadn’t been any emergencies to make him dip into the fund and he’d managed to keep from taking from it when he just wanted to get carryout rather than cook. Now, all the delicious curries he’d sacrificed would be worth it as soon as he could finally get the tattoo he’d been planning since he was a teen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After he hit send, he checked the dry erase calendar on the fridge, he kept his schedule on his phone as well, but there was something about seeing it written out that helped keep it solidified in his brain. He grinned when he saw that day and the next were both absent of any ink meaning he could relax and have some time to himself after he’d done laundry and cleaned his flat. Before he did anything, he was going to get some sleep because it was three in the morning and that’s what normal people did. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam’s life wasn’t an easy one, but he was more or less happy with the way it had turned out. When he was only sixteen, he’d lost his family in a terrible accident. They had been driving home from dropping him off at the airport so he could spend a year abroad as part of a student exchange program when a lorry had lost control and smashed into the side of their vehicle sending them off the side of a ravine. He’d been greeted at the airport in Los Angeles by an Air Marshall with a sad face and a return ticket to England. Instead of spending a year in the States, he’d ended up spending a year trying to figure out what he was going to do with himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d stayed with a distant relative for a couple of years, but she’d been set in her ways and had no patience for a near-adult living in her house, trying to have a life. So, Liam had finished school online while working two different jobs, one in a coffee shop and the other at a grocer’s. He’d attended university online for a couple of years after he’d moved out of Aunt Tilly’s house, but soon it became too expensive and he didn’t have time between the three jobs he held just to keep a roof over his head and food in his stomach.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After he’d stopped classes and picked up a flatmate, he was able to go back down to two jobs and manage to save money not only for his tattoo but just to have a rainy day account. He was up for a promotion to store assistant manager at the grocer’s he’d been working at since he’d first moved in with Aunt Tilly and hoped that would be enough to quit the coffee shop job altogether, but he didn’t hate it there so he wasn’t going to complain if it didn’t pan out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He laid in bed, as he usually did, thinking about his family and wondering if they would be proud of him for surviving. He was asleep before he could wipe away the tear that escaped from the corner of his eye so he didn’t see the flash of gold when it dripped off his face and onto the arm that was curled underneath his head on top of his pillow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam awoke when the sun was still low in the sky, his room mostly dark thanks to the blankets he had pegged up over the windows. Rubbing at his eyes, he looked around for whatever had pulled him out of his slumber before realizing it was his phone which was buzzing. Groaning, he picked it up, flipping it over and staring at the screen, squinting to make out the words without blinding himself. It took him until the buzzing had stopped to realize it was Malik’s Magic Markings calling and he cursed, fingers fumbling as he tried to call it back but a text came through before he could even unlock his phone properly.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m open from noon until midnight today. Come by and we’ll talk. -Z”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam read the words over again and debated how to respond, but figured it didn’t require a response, so he tossed his phone next to his pillow and went back to sleep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Several hours of restless sleep later, knocking on his bedroom door roused him and he shoved his blankets off as he told his flatmate he could enter. The door opened and the blonde head of Niall poked around it. “You up?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am now,” Liam responded around a yawn. “What’s up?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re off tonight, yeah?” Liam nodded in response as he climbed off his bed and moved around the room, gathering clothing and a towel so he could shower. “I’m going to the pub after work with Bressie and some of his mates. Why don’t you come with me? I saw the schedule was clear.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll see,” Liam said. “Going for a consultation at the tattoo parlour. Might run late.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright.” Niall was usually pretty agreeable and that day was no exception. “I’m off to work. Maybe see you later.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam stretched and made his way into the living room, the only area with enough space for him to work out. He was lucky Niall didn’t mind the weight bench that took up one side of the room and was occasionally used as a coat rack. He picked up his jacket and threw it onto the sofa before loading up the bar with a lighter weight than he knew he could do since there was no one to spot him before dropping to the floor to warm up with sit-ups and rolling over into push-ups after a few reps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mind wandered while his body worked by rote through the workout. He kept going over the email he’d sent to the tattoo parlour. He’d sent a sloppy sketch he’d made of a coat of arms that he’d found in a book claiming it was his family’s coat of arms. He planned to replace the lion in the centre with his family using the photo he’d taken just before boarding the plane to the states for his aborted study abroad. He wasn’t sure it was possible to fit it inside, but the portrait work on the website had been pretty spectacular. He hoped that it would be a way to carry his family with him wherever he went.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he was done with the workout, he was energized enough that he didn’t want to crawl back into bed and stay there. Taking a quick shower, managing to finish before the hot water ran out, he dressed in a pair of black jeans and an Adidas hoodie that Niall had given him for Christmas. He looked at his hair in the mirror and pulled a beanie over it instead of trying to make it look presentable; he was overdue for a haircut and almost to the point he was going to buzz it all off again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, he grabbed his wallet and filled it with the cash out of the tattoo fund jar and shoved it deep into one of his front pockets, his phone went in the other. Once satisfied that he had everything, he headed out the door, locking up behind him as he went. The parlour wasn’t very far and the weather was nice, so he decided to skip the cost of public transport and walk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The streets were crowded with people enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. He grinned as he darted around small groups with dogs on leashes, stopping to pet a couple, having always had a way with them; even the meanest dogs became docile and friendly under Liam’s attention. A tiny little brown thing named Pete tried to climb into the pocket of his hoodie when he squatted down to give him and a couple of the other dogs that he was being walked with attention. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He teased the owner that given the chance, he’d let him achieve his goal and run away with the pup. The young woman laughed, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder and his stomach sank that she thought he was flirting with her when she handed him a card. Glancing down, he recognized the name of an animal shelter not far from his flat. Before he could embarrass himself, she explained that she volunteered there with her girlfriend and that Pete was one of their residents looking for a home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam gave him another snuggle before reluctantly handing him back to her, his mind already spinning as she walked away. His building allowed small dogs, but he wasn’t sure how big Pete would get or how Niall would feel about it especially with how busy Liam’s schedule was. He watched her go, eyes locking with Pete’s as he stared at him sadly over the girl’s shoulder before they disappeared around the corner. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nearly walked past the shop the first time, not having noticed it coming up and tripping over his own feet when he suddenly became aware of the front door right next to him. Chuckling to himself, he reached out for the door handle, jerking back at the spark of static electricity that ran up his arm. Shaking out his arm, he reached for the handle again and pulled it open, stepping into the brightly lit lobby of the parlour, the sounds of the street disappearing when the door closed behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no one behind the counter, but he could hear the buzz of a tattoo gun coming from the back, so he knew someone was there. He opened his mouth to call out but refrained in fear of disturbing someone while they were basically cutting into someone’s skin. He listened for a few minutes before getting distracted by the various images posted on the walls throughout the lobby. Some were framed and some were just pieces of paper stuck up with thumbtacks. The entire thing should’ve looked messy but it somehow pulled together into something comforting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few different times, he thought he heard whispering from behind him but when he turned around, he was still the only person in the room. He tilted his head, trying to see if it was coming from the backroom but the sound didn’t come again and he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to hear voices over the buzzing. Shrugging it off, he dropped down into a chair against the front windows and picked up one of the magazines scattered around the room, flipping through the glossy pages. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The buzzing washed over him sending him into a light daze, his eyes blurring the images on the page. He blinked back into focus a couple of times when he heard voices and even someone giggling, but there was no one around so he returned his attention to reading about the latest dumb thing a celebrity did and wondering why people cared so much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He must have dozed off at some point because one moment he was reading about some has-been singer’s desperate attempt to make her third marriage with a young man she’d met when he was a child last through whatever means necessary and the next someone was tapping his shoulder. “Hey, mate, alright?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blinking and stretching before bending his neck one way and then the other, he looked up at the person who woke him, eyes locking on glowing hazel ones. He got a little bit lost in them as he discovered a fleck of colour floating in the whites of one and felt his cheeks warm when a hand squeezed his shoulder and the man attached to the eyes chuckled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry,” Liam said, pushing himself to stand, forcing the man to take a step backward, but the smile never left his face and in fact widened, causing a web of fine lines to appear in the tanned skin around his eyes as his tongue pressed against the back of his teeth. “I must’ve dozed off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It happens.” They stared at each other, the look on the man’s face first expectant and then just a little sad as he gave a tight smile and held out his hand. “I’m Zayn. Malik. This is my shop,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Liam. I emailed you earlier,” he responded, shaking his hand, ignoring the spark of disappointment when Zayn pulled it back, his eyes studying him, the expectant look returning for a moment before his face turned expressionless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The shield and family photo, yeah?” Zayn said after the silence stretched between them. He moved back behind the counter and pulled open a sketchbook, flipping through the pages until he found one he seemed to like and turning to show Liam. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stepping up, Liam stared at the sketch. It was done quickly but Liam was impressed by the skill shown in the charcoal on the page. His fingers hovered over the lines but he didn't want to mess it up because Zayn had captured perfectly what Liam had described, combining the images he’d sent him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is better than I could even imagine,” he said after staring so long the lines began to soften and shimmer, his mother’s smile seeming to twist into a small smile beneath his gaze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn gave a short chuckle that sent flutters through Liam’s stomach and he had to remind himself to stop before he embarrassed himself. “Well, if you give me a few more days, I’ll have something a bit better. This was just to get the layout right. My next step will be to flesh it out more, better lines. Then I’ll transfer it to your skin to use as a guide for the actual tattoo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, so you probably won’t get to the tattoo tonight?” Liam asked, feeling stupid when Zayn gave him a soft look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah, mate. It’ll take me a couple of days to get the design done and it’ll probably take at least a couple of sessions to complete the tattoo. Today was just to get approval for the design and a price quote.” He bit into his lip and looked Liam over. “This is pretty big so it’s gonna cost a bit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Will it be much more than a thousand pounds?” Liam asked, thinking about the money in his pocket, wanting to be sure he had enough for a tip and maybe some to keep back for his own savings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think I can work with that,” Zayn told him. “Do you want colour or just shades of grey?” Liam made a face. “No pun intended,” he said, giving a shudder before laughing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam joined him in the laughter before saying he wasn’t interested in colours, wanting to try and keep it slightly simple and soft. He ran a hand over the back of his neck as he said it, thinking he sounded stupid but Zayn nodded like he understood completely. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, I’ll contact you when the drawing is done and we can set up an appointment. Is there a day or time that works best for you?” he asked, flipping through an appointment book on the counter and frowning at it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I work two jobs and my schedule isn’t consistent,” Liam told him, feeling a bit panicky at the thought of coming so close to getting what he wanted and being thwarted by his jobs once again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll get it figured out,” Zayn assured him. “I have pretty flexible hours, so I’ll work around you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks,” Liam said as the door opened and a woman with long red hair walked in and approached the counter with a grin. “I’ll talk to you soon.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Looking forward to it,” Zayn told him, waving his hand in a wave as his attention was already turning to the woman.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite the disappointment of not getting the tattoo started that night, Liam left the shop with the warmth of excitement and anticipation sitting low in his chest. He rubbed his hand over the center as he made his way down the street and sent a text to Niall to get details where they would be meeting up later. As he stood next to a shop just down the row from Zayn’s shop waiting for a response from Niall, he heard a whimper from the alley next to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking around to see if anyone else had heard it, the pedestrian traffic just continued moving around him. He had almost chalked it up to his imagination when he heard it again. Hesitantly, he took a step into the alley, thankful it was broad daylight and the only shadows were those cast by the dumpsters pushed up against the walls. As he took a few more steps, the whimper sounded from behind one of the hulking metal beasts and he hurried his steps towards it, no longer concerned for his own safety.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Crouching down as soon as he rounded the corner, his eyes grew wide when he saw Pete huddling into the darkness, eyes darting around. As soon as he saw Liam, his entire demeanor changed and he leapt at him. Liam barely stayed balanced in his crouched position as he cradled him in his arms. Confused, Liam looked around for the girl that had been walking Pete earlier but didn’t see any sign of her. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out the card she’d given him and dialed the number as he stood, Pete tucked into one arm as he made his way out of the alley and back to the busy street.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The phone on the other end rang and rang without going to an answerphone and by the time he’d reached another corner, he gave up and slid it into his pocket. He decided to just stop by the shelter on his way back to the flat. As he walked, Pete kept trying to crawl up and lick his face. When he got to the door of the shelter, he reached for the door handle, jerking backwards when a shock ran through him. Shaking his hand out, he reached out more carefully and pulled on the handle, stumbling a bit when the door didn’t open.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He checked the hours and it should’ve been open. Cupping one hand around his eyes he pressed up against the glass but couldn’t see anyone inside. “What do you think, Pete?” he asked and the dog tilted his head, eyes wide. “I have no idea, either. Guess, I’m taking you home for the night.” Pete gave an excited bark, his tail wagging against Liam’s side and he giggled, stepping back from the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He took a couple of steps when something caught his eye. There was a mail slot next to the door and something was sticking out of it. Reaching for it, thinking it might be something to explain why they were closed, he was surprised to find an envelope with his name on it. Pulling it out completely, he opened it and a key fell into his hand. He held it up, studying the intricate metalwork at the top of it; it was an old key like you saw in mystery movies and there was no indication what the key was for or why it was left for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hurriedly, he scribbled a note on the back of the envelope saying he had Pete and was taking him back to his flat. He left his phone number as well and then headed to a nearby pet supply store to get enough to get him through the night until hopefully, someone would answer at the shelter. He had to break into his tattoo money to get the supplies but he should be able to work enough in the next couple of weeks to make up the loss.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He let himself into the flat and put Pete down who immediately began exploring the flat. Liam filled a bowl with food and another with water, setting them both on the floor in the kitchen where he hoped Niall wouldn’t trip over them. He also sent a text to his flatmate to let him know he wouldn’t be meeting him at the pub, afraid to leave Pete alone in the flat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he was done with that, he went to change into a pair of sweats and grab his laptop. It wasn’t often he got free time and watching some Netflix sounded like a great way to pass the evening; he was glad that Niall shared his password with him because he’d cancelled his own account months ago. He was scrolling through the menu when his phone buzzed and he saw that the text was from Zayn.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The crest you sent is for the House of Payne. Is that your family?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He thought he’d given Zayn his last name, but he must have forgotten in his excitement. He sent back an answer in the affirmative and decided to watch the newest Jurassic movie that was streaming. He’d just hit ‘play’ when his phone buzzed again.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Was your father Geoff Payne?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam narrowed his eyes in confusion; how would Zayn have known that? He hadn’t even given him his last name and his father had been a simple government worker, not someone to be remembered by strangers. He sent back another affirmative and set his phone aside, wanting to focus on the movie. It was easy to do when there were no more texts from Zayn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a loud roar from the movie, Pete climbed up into his lap and curled up, his head resting on Liam’s knee and a contented sigh escaping him.  Liam scratched between his ears, smiling down at the pup as the movie continued. They stayed that way for the rest of the movie and spent the majority of the day and night there on the sofa. By the time Niall stumbled in from the pub, exclaiming loudly over the adorableness of Pete, Liam felt more relaxed than he had in a long time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He helped Niall to bed, the lad an affectionate drunk that became dead weight when he’d passed out halfway to the bedroom. Shrugging, Liam scooped him up and carried him the rest of the way, Pete following behind carrying Niall’s phone in his mouth. Liam laughed as he wiped the slobber off it and attached it to the charger plugged into the wall. He put a bottle of water and some paracetamol next to the phone on the nightstand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He ran a hand over Niall’s hair wishing he could somehow wish away the hangover he knew his friend would have in the morning. He liked to drink but didn’t get this way very often because he always paid for it the next day but he could tell by the smile on his face as he slept that he’d had a good time. Shaking his head fondly when Niall started to snore loudly and laughing when Pete jumped the first time a snore became a loud snort and Niall started muttering in his sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Closing the door behind him, Liam headed to his room, grabbing a blanket and setting it up on the floor in the corner by his bed. Peter snuggled into it with a few turns, letting out another sigh as he laid his head on his paws and watched Liam.“Good night, Pete,” Liam said, setting the alarm on his phone and settling underneath his blankets on his side smiling as he listened to Pete’s even breathing. He was asleep before he noticed the way Pete’s eyes flashed in the darkness of the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam woke to Niall singing in the kitchen and the smell of a full English filling the flat. His stomach growled and he could hear Pete moving around the bedroom. Sitting up, he reached for his phone to try and call the shelter again, knocking the key he’d found there to the ground. Pete nosed at it a few times before turning to look at Liam with a whimper. Climbing off the bed, he grabbed the lead he’d picked up the day before, hooking it to Pete’s collar and headed through the flat to the front door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be back in mo!” he called to Niall who shouted back an acknowledgement and Liam took a second to wonder at how normal Niall was acting that morning, no signs of his overindulgence from the night before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam had the phone to his ear as he made his way down the stairs. The phone rang four times before going to an answerphone announcing that the shelter was closed indefinitely but to leave a name and number if they wanted to be contacted when services resumed. He did just that as he led Pete out of the building into the tiny plot of grass hidden behind it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>While Pete did his business, Liam looked back over the strange texts from Zayn the night before. He was trying to come up with a response when three dots appeared, so he waited to see what Zayn had to say. It took until he was already back in the flat before his phone buzzed.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Can you come to the shop today or are you working?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He responded letting him know he was off that day and inquiring when he’d like for him to come by. The response was immediate. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As soon as possible.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Narrowing his eyes, Liam grabbed a rasher of bacon as he tried to figure out what to do with Pete while he was gone. He’d just decided to leave him in the flat when the dog grabbed one of Liam’s shoes and ran for the door. “Fuck, oh fuck,” Liam shouted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He reached for his other shoe as a knock sounded at the door. Niall opened it to find an empty hallway and Pete took the opportunity to squeeze between his legs and escape the flat. Liam grabbed Pete’s lead from where he’d hung it on the coat hooks by the door and raced after him, grabbing the dropped shoe and hopping down the hall trying to pull it and the other one on without landing face first. He managed to reach the door just as Pete bolted down the stairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam thought for sure he’d get ahold of Pete when they reached the front of the building, but the Irish couple from downstairs were coming inside with their two pugs and Pete paused only briefly before escaping completely. The man tried to grab for him but Pete was too quick and Liam was barely able to breathe out an apology before he continued his chase through the streets of London.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was sure they made quite a sight, Liam still in his joggers and ragged vest that he slept in chasing a tiny puppy and shouting after him, trying to hold back the cursing when he passed a group of schoolchildren waiting for transportation. His heart leaped into his throat as Pete neared a busy intersection, the traffic flowing as quickly as it managed at that time of day. A car was heading straight for Pete, too far away for Liam to grab and he held his breath as he tried to grab for the dog, knowing it was hopeless and was nearly knocked to the ground when suddenly Pete was there in his arms, yipping and licking at Liam’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the ever-loving fuck?” he whispered, flinching when the schoolchildren “oooh’d” at him. “Pardon,” he said to the one harried-looking mum that was with the group who waved him off, eyes wide as she stared at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t ever do that again,” Liam hissed at the dog, continuing on his way as they were almost halfway to Zayn’s shop. He didn’t know how he would explain to the shelter that he’d gotten their dog killed less than twenty-four hours after having him in his custody. They’d never let him have a dog for real if that happened. He just hoped that Zayn wouldn’t be too upset about having a dog in the shop. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once again, Liam was in front of the door to the shop without even seeing it coming up in the distance. Pete was on the end of the lead at that point and put his paws on the glass, giving a yip and looking back at Liam over his shoulder, his tail wagging like crazy. Shaking his head, he pulled it open, holding the lead firmly when Pete tried to run inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door was closing behind him when there was a bark too deep to be Pete’s. Turning slowly, he found a Shar-Pei sitting next to the counter, head tilted as it studied Pete who was trying to climb up Liam’s legs. Picking him up, he held a hand out to the strange dog who sniffed at it once before standing and heading into the back of the shop. A moment later, Zayn came out, wiping his hands on a towel. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You made it,” he greeted and then squatted down, holding a hand out to Pete who sniffed him cautiously before trying to climb up in his lap and sending him falling backward on his bum. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The low chuckle he let out warmed Liam and he had to look away, running a hand through his hair. He studied the drawings on the walls, blinking when he thought he caught movement out of the corner of his eye but shook it off and turned his attention back to Zayn who had stood up with Pete in his arms. “Is everything alright?” Liam asked. “Your texts were a bit odd.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry ‘bout that. I was, like, inspired last night and I finished your sketch and you seemed eager to get started, so I hoped you might be available.” He reached under the counter to pull out a sketchpad, running his hand over the cover and Liam thought he’d whispered something before opening it and turning it to show Liam.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All of his breath wooshed out of him and his throat dried as he took in the image. It was so realistic he almost reached out to take his mother’s hand. He rubbed at his eyes, the image swimming through the tears and he nodded several times. Zayn had altered the photo slightly so his family had their hands raised in greeting and he clenched his hands together to keep from returning the gesture.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s...amazing,” he choked out, laughing as he wiped at his eyes again. “Sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn’s eyes were damp as well. “It’s alright. That’s a really great reaction, actually.” He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get started, shall we? We’ll get the outline done today and then make an appointment in about a week to do the shading, yeah?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam nodded again, feeling like a bobblehead but his entire body was buzzing with energy. He shook out his hands as he followed Zayn, still carrying Pete, into the back room. The Shar-Pei from earlier was curled up on a large dog bed in the corner by the back door, giving an unimpressed look when Zayn put Pete down and he tried to climb into the bed as well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Boris, be nice,” Zayn warned and the dog huffed, raising a paw and pushing at Pete until he seemed satisfied and laid back down again, Pete curling into his side with a sigh. “He’s a good dog, just a bit of a wanker sometimes.” A low growl sounded. “You know you’re an asshole, don’t even play.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The one-sided banter was enough to distract Liam from his nerves and he settled into the chair that Zayn indicated. “Take off your shirt.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam laughed. “Buy a guy dinner first,” he teased, already reaching behind himself to grab the back of the neck and pull the garment over his head, chuckling when his head popped out and he saw Zayn’s eyes tracing his biceps; he knew he had a good body but it was still a thrill when someone as good looking as Zayn visibly appreciated it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe after we’re done,” he commented, pulling the sketch carefully out of the book and moving over to a machine in the corner, setting the top edge of the paper into one side of the machine before grabbing another sheet of paper and inserting it into the other and pressing a button, the machine whirring to life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s that?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Transfer printer,” Zayn responded, continuing to explain how the drawing was being printed onto the transfer paper that he would put on Liam’s arm to get the placement just right, and then Zayn would go over the lines with the tattoo gun. He said that he would make two copies, one for today and one for the next appointment to do the major details. “I’ll freehand a lot of finer details though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam listened intently and then asked Zayn how he’d gotten into tattooing. The conversation flowed easily between them while the image was transferred and Zayn approached, having Liam sit up a little straighter in the chair. Picking up a spray bottle, he sprayed his skin and Liam jumped at the cold liquid. “Rubbing alcohol. Sterilizing your skin,” he explained. “Next, I’ll wash it with green soap and then rub some Stencil Stuff into it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stencil stuff? Is that a technical term?” Liam teased.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn held up the bottle with the name “Stencil Stuff” written on the front. “Not technical, but commercial.” They both chuckled and Liam ran his free hand over his face trying to hide the heat he felt there as Zayn laid the transfer paper over his arm, surprising Liam when it stretched from the curve of his shoulder down to his elbow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was hypnotizing as Zayn held the paper with one hand and rubbed gently over it with the other, pressing the paper against his skin before picking up a paper towel and repeating the motion several times, his lips moving soundlessly as he worked. Finally, he carefully peeled the paper back to reveal the tattoo in purple covering his skin, and Liam’s breath left him again; he was going to end up passing out at this rate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Helping Liam stand, he guided him over to a full-length mirror on the wall and turned him so he could see the way the shield wrapped around his bicep. He ran a thumb over the edges, frowning when it smeared a little. “Have to give it a few minutes to dry,” he mumbled before turning his attention to Liam. “What do you think?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s going to be amazing,” Liam breathed out. “Even better than I imagined. Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Haven’t done anything yet,” Zayn told him, grinning and guiding him back to the chair and picking up the gun. “Thank me again when we’re done.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The time passed strangely as Zayn worked, Liam’s awareness going between conversation with Zayn about random things including any number of the tattoos painting Zayn’s skin to Liam’s memories of his family to a floaty feeling where the only thing he was aware of was the buzzing of the gun and the mild burn against his skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He must have dozed off completely at one point because he thought he heard his mother’s laughter and he jerked awake to Zayn’s hand on his chest and concern in his eyes. “We’re done for today,” he said, gesturing to the plastic wrap about Liam’s bicep and he was startled by how little he remembered of the process. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Helping him sit up and put his shirt on, Liam was grateful he had been in the vest he slept in so it didn’t go over the ink; work the next day could be interesting. He listened carefully as Zayn gave him instructions on care and treatment for the tattoo, handing him a small jar of lotion to use on it. They moved to the front of the shop and Liam laughed when they discovered Pete and Boris playing tug-of-war with a piece of fabric.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oy!” Zayn snapped, both dogs dropping the fabric and he snatched it up off the ground frowning at it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, mate,” Liam said, reaching for the fabric but Zayn shrugged and shoved it into his back pocket and waved him off. The silence between them was slightly awkward and Liam cleared his throat after a few minutes. “Thanks for not being upset about the dog. He’s staying with me until I can get hold of the shelter he escaped from.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn studied Pete who was nosing at a few of the magazines, Boris watching from a distance as he chewed on a rawhide bone. “What shelter?” He reached into his pocket for his wallet only to remember it was at home in his jeans and he started cursing. “What’s wrong?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He explained and Zayn shook his head, laughing. “Well, I guess I’ll give the two of you a ride home to be sure I get my money,” Zayn said. “You’re just lucky I knew your dad.” He grabbed his keys and whistled, Boris wandered behind the counter and into a small crate, using a rope to pull the door shut before curling up on a pillow inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam picked Pete up and followed Zayn outside to a small car park not far from the shop. “Aren’t you going to lock up?” he asked when they were a few steps away and Zayn glanced back over his shoulder with a smirk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah. My assistant is there,” he said, jerking his chin towards a lime green van.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That looks like-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Saving up for a sick paint job. You a fan?” he asked, unlocking the passenger door for Liam before moving around and climbing into the driver’s seat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Isn’t everyone? You either had a crush on Daphne or Velma, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn shrugged. “I had a thing for Shaggy,” he said, glancing over at Liam. “Think it was the facial hair.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam rubbed his hand over the bristles on his own chin as his face warmed and he looked out the window, hoping he wasn’t obviously pleased by the flirtatious comment. He struggled to come up with something to say in response when he remembered something Zayn had said. “How did you know my dad?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He and my dad were friends,” Zayn told him. “They grew up together. Yaser Malik.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry. I don’t remember him.” Liam wished there was some familiarity, something that he could say but there was nothing. It was like any other time he tried to pull forward memories of his childhood, he could recall emotions but specific memories were muddled and foggy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A strange look crossed over Zayn’s face but Liam blinked and it was gone as he nodded. “That’s alright. I remember you,” he responded, a soft smile on his face. “We met once. We were, like, four or five and it was at a McDonald’s with our mums.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam frowned; he hated that so many memories of his family were muddled although those of his mum were clearer than those of his dad but he didn’t remember meeting a little boy at McDonald’s and playing together. Liam listened to Zayn tell about it like he was hearing about someone else, a television character or something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds like something I wish I could remember,” he whispered when Zayn was done talking and he jumped when Zayn reached over and laid a hand over his, squeezing gently. An image flashed through his mind of a smaller version of the man sitting next to him, a wide grin missing a couple of teeth, hair messy and eyes sparkling. It was so clear that he choked on his next breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn’s eyes were back on the road when he got himself back under control and Liam guided him to his apartment block, amazed there was an open spot in the carpark next to it, a rare occurrence most days. He waited for Zayn to get out and led him inside, ducking into the doorway as his downstairs neighbour exited, smiling at the both of them and running her hand over Pete’s head as she passed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam studied Zayn as he looked around the building, reaching out and running his hand over most of the surfaces they passed, his lips moving silently in a way he’d noticed was a habit with the other man. It didn’t take long to reach his flat and he was relieved to hear Niall moving about inside since he’d forgotten his keys as well as his wallet. He lifted a hand to knock but Pete let out a woof that brought Niall to the door before he could make contact.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank goodness you’re back,” he said, buttoning up his shirt as he hurried past. “Your keys and wallet are on the table. I tried to find you to drop them off but I couldn’t find a listing for the tattoo place.” With that, he disappeared down the hall, his phone already pressed to his ear as he assured whoever was on the other end that he was on his way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was Niall,” Liam said as they entered the flat. “My flatmate and probably my closest friend.” He tilted his head. “Only friend, possibly.” He knew that made him sound pathetic but he just worked too much to have a large circle of friends despite Niall always trying to get him to go out with him on his days off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He set Pete down, watching him dart down the hall toward the bedrooms before turning his attention to Zayn and picking up his wallet. “How much do I owe you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn rattled off a number that sounded too low but when Liam tried to argue, Zayn assured him he would owe him more after the next appointment. Chuckling, Liam pulled out what he owed him and extra for a tip that Zayn tried to shove back at him but Liam shook his head, laughing at the exasperated look on his face. “Now, about dinner,” Zayn said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dinner?” Liam asked, his mind had been on what he would eat that night but he hadn’t thought he’d said that aloud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Earlier, you said I should buy you dinner before asking you to strip,” he pointed out, startling a laugh out of him. “So, what do you want for dinner?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t have to...that was a joke.” Zayn’s smile faded, his lips pressing together in a thin line as he nodded and turned toward the door. “But if you really want to, I wouldn’t say no to pizza.” The beaming smile was back, teeth digging into his tongue as it stuck out slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pizza it is.” He looked over Liam. “Did you want to change first?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam groaned, his eyes closing as he remembered he was still in his pajamas. “Give me a minute.” He hurried down the hall, passing Pete on the way and grabbed something suitable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he was changing, he could hear Zayn’s voice and he wondered if he was on the phone but when he came back out, he was sitting on the floor looking at Pete with a serious expression on his face. The look changed to a smile and Pete raced around his ankles for a minute when he appeared before curling up underneath the table, chewing on one of the squeaky toys Liam had gotten for him so he felt comfortable leaving him while they went to eat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ready?” Zayn asked, looking him over, sending a thrill through Liam.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure you don’t need to get back to the shop?” Liam asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were my only appointment today,” he told him, laughing when Liam’s stomach rumbled. “Let’s feed that beast, shall we?” Nodding, Liam followed him out of the flat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Time passed quickly as they shared a pizza at a place Liam had never been at before. It was around the corner, really close by and on his route to the coffee shop but he swore he’d never noticed it before. “This is amazing,” Liam said, the pie a perfect blend of cheese and sauce and seasoning and he hummed as he ate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Almost magical?” Zayn teased, laughing when Liam nodded and he couldn’t help feeling he was missing a joke somewhere but the food was too good to care.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After they were done eating, Liam looked at his phone and jumped to his feet. “I have to work in an hour,” he said, apologizing. “I have to go let Pete out. I have to go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn stood too and offered to walk Liam back; he was going to refuse but realized he wanted to spend that little bit more time with Zayn, not quite ready for the day to end. They talked quietly as they made their way back to the flat, hurrying to take Pete out to do his business and Liam smiled when Zayn stuck with him. Once Pete was settled in Liam’s room with a toy and some food and water, they left the flat and Zayn fell into step next to Liam as he headed to work. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t have to walk me to work,” he said, although he was fighting to hide a smile as their arms brushed together, even if he winced a bit when Zayn’s arm touched the plastic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could go for a cuppa and if I find out where you work, I can come see you,” he said, easy as if Liam had asked for the time of day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’d want to do that?” Liam asked, not even bothering to fight the grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn’s nose crinkled. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I quite fancy you, Leeyum.” The way he drew out his name made warmth bloom in Liam’s chest and he rubbed a fist over it, waving off Zayn’s concerned look at the action. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they reached the shop, they stood outside grinning at each other before Liam took a chance and leaned in to press a kiss to Zayn’s cheek, giggling when he turned his head at the last second and brushed their lips together. “Call me if there are any issues with the tattoo, yeah? You should be able to take the plastic off tonight, but be careful with it and cover it when you shower.” Liam nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll see you in about a week to finish it?” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If not sooner,” Zayn said. “I mean, not for the tattoo, like, but…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d like that,” Liam said, leaning in for another kiss, this one a tad longer and left his lips tingling and cheeks warm as he hurried into working, a sudden flash of his father swinging him up onto his shoulders going through his mind. He stumbled at the sharpness of the memory before recovering and flipping off Louis behind the counter that was catcalling him as he crossed into the back to grab his apron.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam dragged himself home after his shift, ready to take a quick nap before having to head into the grocery store for a short shift, one that would hopefully end with a meeting with his boss to offer him the promotion. Before he could even think of closing his eyes, he took Pete out to do his business and then refilled his food and water bowls. Stumbling blindly into the bathroom, he got into the shower, not worrying about taking the plastic off the tattoo because he’d just have to reapply it to shower.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he was out, he carefully peeled off the plastic, a strange tickling sensation running over the skin of his bicep as it was revealed more fully to the light. He blinked at the mirror as the black lines seemed to twist and blur under his gaze. Shaking his head and rubbing at his eyes, he cursed not getting more sleep the day before but he wouldn’t have traded the time spent with Zayn for anything. A soft smile creeped across his face as his thoughts turned to Zayn’s touch as he worked on the tattoo and the way he’d looked after they’d kissed for the first time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Checking his phone, he groaned at the short amount of time he had to spare for sleep but his eyes were already closed as his head hit the pillow. All waking thoughts of Zayn pushed away to be replaced with dreams of two young boys playing in a field behind an old stone house in the middle of the woods.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The week flew by for Liam. Between working, texting with Zayn and trying to get Pete returned to the still-closed shelter, it was time for him to make another appointment before he knew it. He probably wouldn't even have thought about it if Zayn hadn’t reminded him in a text that morning. He only worked at the grocery store that day; he’d gotten the promotion and when he’d tried to put his two weeks in at the coffee shop, the owner had cried and offered to cut his hours down to just a day or two a week because she didn't want to see him go. He said he’d try working just one night a week to see how it worked out but if it was still too much, he was going to leave so his schedule had changed immediately, freeing up a lot of time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stopped by the flat after work to shower and change clothes. Pete was waiting with his lead in his mouth in anticipation of his nightly walk and started trying to drag Liam towards the shop but was convinced to go back inside so he could finish getting ready to see Zayn. After pulling his work shirt off, he felt the tickle in his bicep again; he’d asked Zayn about it but he’d said that it was probably just the skin knitting back together. He’d said usually people described it as itchy, but tickly made sense as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he was out of the shower, he pulled his shirt over his head, smoothing it down before running a brush through his hair. He wanted to look decent; it was the first time he’d seen Zayn in a week and despite their daily texting, a part of him was worried that he might have changed his mind about how he felt about Liam.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taking Pete’s lead, he let the excitable pup pull him through the streets towards the shop. Liam stumbled at the corner of the street a bit, surprised when he noticed a few new shops opened up around Zayn’s. Shaking his head, he could have sworn the chemists stood right next to Zayn’s shop, but now there was a book store between the two. Rubbing at his eyes, he decided he either needed to work on his powers of observation or get glasses. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>An elderly woman waved at him from where she was sweeping the pavement in front of a bakery that Liam had never seen before. He waved back and the woman’s face lit up like he’d just made her night. She held up a finger and asked him to hold on as she disappeared into the shop, reappearing a moment later with a small white box. “Free samples for a new customer,” she told him, passing the box, patting his hand when he took it. “Looking forward to seeing more of you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, ma’am,” he said, confused. Wasn’t everyone a new customer if it was a new shop? Maybe it had relocated; that had to be what had happened otherwise he would’ve seen the brightly coloured awning before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was still standing there dumbfounded when he heard a sharp whistle and Pete started tugging on the lead. Turning around, he saw Zayn standing in front of his shop, a wide grin on his face as he glanced down at his watch and then back at Liam. “Did you get lost?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think I just might have,” he responded, crossing the street and holding out the box of pastries to Zayn who took it with a smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yum,” he said, going back into the shop, Liam and Pete following closely. Boris came through the back door and sniffed the air, picking up his pace and jumping up, nearly knocking the box out of Zayn’s hands. He managed to tighten his grip at the last minute. “If you behave, I’m sure Liam will give you a treat after we’re done with his tattoo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As long as there’s something safe for dogs,” Liam said as he followed Zayn to the back, already pulling his shirt over his head. He moved to stand in front of the mirror and looked at the tattoo, getting a better look under the brighter lights than he could in his own bathroom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He rubbed at his eyes when the ink swam under his gaze again, his mother’s arm appearing to rub up and down his own in the image. The movement accompanied by the now familiar, and almost comforting, tickling sensation. He looked up, his eyes locking with Zayn’s in the mirror, the hazel in them seeming to flare slightly before his lips quirked into a smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, mate?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shook off the fuzziness and turned back towards Zayn with a grin. “Just admiring the artistry. I’m really excited to see how the rest turns out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, hop in the chair and let’s get to work.” Zayn pulled gloves on and started moving things around on the small rolling table while Liam settled into the chair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even though it was only the second time, Liam felt a sense of familiarity as Zayn began cleaning his arm and prepping it for the transfer paper. The smell of the rubbing alcohol and green soap were both strong but pleasant and he felt himself relaxing into the chair, a sense of calm coming over him as his exhaustion catching up with him contributed to his eyes slipping shut as he drifted off into sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He startled awake when Zayn jiggled his arm slightly. “Didn’t want you to jump when I started,” he apologized and Liam nodded around a jaw-cracking yawn. “Long week?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not as long as most weeks but I haven’t been sleeping very well,” Liam told him, going on to explain the crazy dreams he’d been having that had disrupted his sleep when he would wake up with the feeling of just missing something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dreams can cause so many disruptions but they can be amazing as well,” Zayn responded, putting the gun to Liam’s arm and beginning to work. He smiled when Liam jumped a little. “Hopefully, this won’t be too bad this week, but when I go over the same area repeatedly it might feel a bit like burning.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam nodded, trying to keep still and relax back into the chair while still struggling to watch what Zayn was doing. He tilted his head just right and realized he could see what was going on in one of the mirrors hung on the wall. The distance made it difficult to see exactly what Zayn was doing but he could focus on the muscles of his back. His eyes caught on the ink that reached over his shoulders before disappearing under the black vest he was wearing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was your first tattoo?” he asked; they’d discussed Zayn’s ink before and Liam knew the stories behind most of them but he wanted to know more, wanted to know the story of each one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn paused the work he was doing to pick up more ink and lay a hand over his chest. “My mother’s father’s name in Arabic here.” He went on to share stories of the man who used to own a pub and Liam found himself relaxing even more, the buzz of the gun filling his brain and sending him into an almost trance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn’s voice wrapped over and around him as soothing as the buzzing from the gun. He heard what he was saying but at different points the words stopped making sense but still felt warm and comforting. He sat up a little straighter when he thought he heard his father’s name. “What was that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just finished detailing your dad’s face,” he responded. “I was giving him respect. It’s something I do when I tattoo portraits.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam nodded, trying to twist to get a good look but his eyes caught on Zayn’s arm as he turned away to grab another ink pot. “Is that new?” He jerked his chin to Zayn’s bicep when he got a strange look in response. “I don’t remember seeing it before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn raised his eyebrows. “What do you see?” he asked which seemed like a strange question but as he went back to work, he assumed he was just trying to keep him distracted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A girl in a beanie and leather jacket.” He squinted. “She looks a bit odd.” He winced. “Sorry, that sounds rude.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah, it’s fine,” Zayn responded. “Maybe it’ll grow on you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he said that, Liam’s vision shimmered and the tattoo faded in and out, looking slightly different every time the edges sharpened until the curvy body of the female was more masculine and boxy. “Um…” he said, reaching for Zayn with his free hand. “I think I’m going to pass out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The buzzing of the gun stopped immediately, followed by the snapping of Zayn removing his gloves before he pulled Liam forward to put his head between his knees, rubbing a hand over his back. He called out for water and a moment later, Boris came in carefully carrying a water bottle in his mouth, settling it his feet and pushing his forehead against Liam’s leg. Pete tumbled into the room behind them, hopping up on the chair before anyone could stop him and laying his head on Liam’s thigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Drink the water,” Zayn told him, uncapping the bottle and handing it over. “Blanket,” he said when Liam started to shiver and Boris pulled one out of the cabinet behind Zayn’s rolling stool and Zayn draped it carefully over Liam’s shoulders, avoiding the raw skin he’d been working on. He ran his hand over his back again as Liam’s breathing slowed down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam’s brain was spinning and he swore he could hear another man’s voice whispering soothing words and they worked to bring him under control. He started to sit up, allowing Zayn to keep a hand on his back and another on his elbow to steady him. “Alright?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I think so,” Liam responded, drinking some more water when Zayn held the bottle to his lips. “Sorry about that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not the first time, won’t be the last,” Zayn told him, slipping on a new pair of gloves. “I was tattooing an elaborate yin-yang over one wi-woman’s spine and she went into shock, shivering so much I had to bring in a portable heater while it was thirty-five degrees outside.” He ran a damp paper towel over his arm and picked up the gun, showing it to Liam and he nodded for him to continue. “Any idea what caused it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I felt fine and then my vision got blurry and I started seeing things.” Liam explained about the tattoo and watched Zayn working, his eyebrows narrowing as he continued speaking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn sat up, pulling off his gloves before leaning back to grab a soft sweater off the wall and shrugging into it, covering most of the art on his arms. “Do you believe in magic?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like ‘yer a wizard, Harry,’ or magicians and the such,” Liam asked, trying to catch up with the change in topic as Zayn put on a new pair of gloves and started working again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For lack of a more accurate representation, yeah,” Zayn responded, darting his eyes up to meet Liam’s for a moment before returning his focus to Liam’s arm where he’d begun working on the details of his sister Ruth’s face. “So, which sister is which?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s Ruth that you’re working on. We called her Roo,” Liam told him. “She pretended to hate it but even her friends started calling her it, especially after she’d returned from her year abroad. We’d get letters addressed to ‘Roo Payne’.” He shook his head as he tried to focus on the memories that were starting to run through him but they were too quick, fuzzy, and fleeting for him to get anything solid to share with Zayn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Going abroad must have been amazing. I know my year was a real learning experience,” Zayn said, as he whispered, “Roo,” and a few other things under his breath. “Did you ever go?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam swallowed, his mind going back to arriving in the states and barely stepping off the gangway and being greeted by a US Marshal who led him directly to another gangway and sat with him on the plane until they returned to the UK. He barely remembered the flight, too shocked by the news of his entire family being gone from the earth. It had been months before he remembered he was supposed to have spent a year in the states with some relative or friend of the family that he’d never heard of before his oldest sister had gone abroad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was meant to. I only got as far as the airport.” Liam’s voice was barely a whisper, the words burning in his mouth; he’d never spoken about this to anyone. He had thought about going to a counselor when it first happened but he didn’t have the money or the time so he’d suffered in silence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened?” Zayn asked and although Liam was loathe to answer, he found the words spilling out of his mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He leaned back in the chair, his eyes closed against the tears that filled them. Zayn’s movements stayed steady as he listened to Liam speak, occasionally using his free hand to squeeze his wrist gently as he continued to fill in first his mother and then his other sister, leaving Liam himself for last.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Each time Zayn finished someone, he would whisper their name and a few other words that Liam didn’t understand and he would feel that tickling sensation again and he swore their voices sounded in the distance. He blinked slowly when he heard his mother’s voice whispering, “I love you, my little bean.” Zayn squeezed his wrist and sat back when he finished Nicola and he heard her laughter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gonna take a short break. Get you some more water and I’m gonna have a smoke,” Zayn told him, pulling off his gloves. He reached out a hand to help Liam to his feet and when their skin brushed a clear image of his father carrying him on his shoulders through a deep woods, whispering strange words under his breath as they moved, flowers appearing around them as they moved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Woah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright?” Zayn looked up from where he was digging a pack of cigarettes out of a leather jacket hanging on a hook by the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just a little lightheaded.” He uncapped the bottle of water and took a sip. “Gonna just sit here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should get up and move around a little, but you can do that when I get back inside,” Zayn offered, letting out a whistle and Boris followed him to the back door. Pete stayed with Liam, still snuggled into his side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam stayed on the chair for a few minutes, one hand running over Pete’s head while the other held the water bottle. He was finally feeling a bit more clear headed as he took the last sip from the bottle, so he pushed himself to stand and moved over to the mirror. He turned to get a good look at the tattoo and he was amazed at the details; his family looked alive and he swore they would move if he looked at them long enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The back door banged open and Zayn walked in, head tilted down as he spoke quietly to Boris. Liam grinned when he looked up and their eyes met. “It looks awesome. Now you can ruin it by adding me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn’s brown furrowed. “What do you mean?” He picked up the original print of the photo Liam had sent him. “You look adorable.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fat.” He frowned when Zayn did. “Reminded every day at school until my dad signed me up for boxing and physical fitness became something I actually gave a damn about.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This isn’t fat,” Zayn said, gesturing for Liam to sit down again. “Not that there's anything wrong with being fat anyway. But this, this is a growing boy. And this boy grew into someone pretty amazing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam’s cheeks warmed. “Shut up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Zayn responded, pulling on another pair of gloves and Liam began to wonder if he’d go through an entire box that day. “I have a feeling not a lot of people have told you that you’re amazing. Now hold still and tell me about the photo while I bring little Liam to life.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam’s brain tripped over the possibly unintentional innuendo before he forced himself to start talking, struggling to pull forward the memory of the night they’d gone to the big fancy party. He remembered sitting at a table with another family that knew his but he couldn’t remember what the party was for or what was talked about. He knew he’d had a good time but he couldn’t tell you anything he’d done that night or what he’d done.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That reminds me of a party I went to with my family,” Zayn said, his voice even and slow like he was choosing his words carefully. “It was a celebration for an organization my father belonged to and there were a lot of speeches, but I spent the entire dinner goofing around with the son of a friend of my father’s. The two of us created enough noise that our parents had to separate us. That just caused us to get louder until the leader of the organization asked our families to leave.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something tugged in Liam’s brain as the room spun. He pressed his free hand over his eyes just as there was another tickle on his bicep and he heard Zayn whisper his own name along with the other unrecognizable words. As soon as he closed his lips, wiping over the tattoo and set the gun aside, Liam’s stomach rolled and his head spun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before he could say anything, Zayn was holding a water bottle to his lips, bare hand pressed to his cheek and images flashed through his mind. He was dressed like the photo and sitting at a table, looking across at a boy around his own age with short black hair and a bright smile. Mischief sparkled in his hazel eyes, a small piece of the hazel floating separately from the iris in the whites of his eyes. He threw his head back in laughter and familiarity raced through him. When the images faded, he blinked open his eyes to find Zayn leaning over him, eyes wide with concern. Eyes that had a small piece of hazel in the whites.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know you,” Liam whispered, meaning it to be a question but his brain wouldn’t let him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You do,” Zayn agreed. “I think we’re done for tonight. I know you wanted to finish-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think we need to talk,” Liam said but he still couldn’t sit up, his head spinning as more memories started to come back to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We do. When you can move around, we can go up to mine. I’ll make some tea,” Zayn offered and Liam nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn took the bottle away when it was empty and Liam relaxed even further into the chair. Pete crawled completely into his lap, whining under his breath until Liam rubbed over his ears. His head was pounding but the world was spinning a little bit less so he risked glancing around the room, his gaze catching on the mirror where he could just make out his tattoo, still uncovered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt the tickling just as the lines began to shimmer in the reflection and his stomach swooped again but instead of feeling dizzy, he felt drawn to move closer to the mirror. Picking Pete up in one arm, he stood carefully from the chair and crossed the room. Turning, his eyes traced over the faces of his family, recognizing their features in a way he hadn’t in a long time; he felt connected to them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I miss you,” he whispered, his fingers hovering over the tattoo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We miss you, too,” he heard in his mother’s voice just as the image of her on his arm moved, her hand rubbing up and down the arm of his image. He felt the tickling sensation and he gaped as his father mirrored the motion, his lips curving in a proud smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, Zayn...I think I’m losing my mind,” he called as Pete whimpered from where he was gripping him too hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn reappeared, Boris at his heels, both of them looking at Liam expectantly. Liam took a deep breath to tell Zayn what was going on when he noticed Zayn’s tattoos moving and changing under his vision. His cartoon-style ‘Zap!’ was changing colours and the woman on his bicep was moving like it was stretching in its own skin until it no longer looked like a woman and could’ve been a cartoon version of Liam in a beanie and leather jacket, the large belt buckle similar to one he had that he’d taken from his father’s things before being shipped off to Aunt Tilly’s.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the ever-loving fuck?” Liam breathed out. “Why am I on your arm? Why are your tattoos moving? Why are mine moving and talking to me?” He spun around when he heard more voices and noticed movements in the photos and drawings on the walls. He spun again when Zayn touched his arm, cowering back from the man, completely freaking out. “Did you put something in the ink? Am I being poisoned?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck,” Zayn uttered. “I really wish I’d come up with a better way to say this, but,” he shrugged and gave Liam a wry smile. “Yer a wizard, Liam.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m a WHAT?!” Liam screeched and Pete yelped, jumping from his arms to hide behind Boris and looking at Liam with hurt eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, technically a warlock but a lot of kids these days think that sounds evil when it’s really, really not,” Zayn explained. “Your family, the Payne family, is one of the oldest magical families. Mine, the Maliks, is nearly as old, dating back to Merlin.” He reached for Liam again and he let Zayn grip his elbow gently. “Our fathers were friends, Liam. Our families were friends. We were friends.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam shook his head. “No. I would remember. I would know!” Liam was trembling and Zayn helped him slide down the mirror to sit on the floor. “I would remember,” he muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You wouldn’t though.” Zayn took a deep breath. “When a witch or warlock turns fifteen, not thirteen like the Harry Potter novels, they ‘travel abroad’ to be properly introduced into the world of magic, it messes with their heads. It changes the way they look at everything in their mind, the memories of magic begin to fade. It’s such a rare thing, I don’t really know all the details; I’m not even sure how or why it happens.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam swallowed, memories he thought long lost, of time spent with his father, come rushing back to him. Sitting in the garden that his mother meticulously cared for, flowers spread between them on a stone bench, their hands hovering as the leaves and petals danced beneath them. Nights spent in the woods under the stars with fireflies filling the sky like stars while his father sent streaks of light between and through them to create beautiful paintings in the sky. His breath caught as he remembered the large Great Dane named Watson that went everywhere with his father.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why? Why would…” He let out a long string of curses before slapping a hand over his mouth, eyes widening and apologies spilling out before he’d even removed his hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d say that is an appropriate response,” Zayn told him. “I’ve only met one other witch who’d missed their ‘year abroad’ and they were in their sixties and nearly took off my father’s head with an unintentional spell.” He reached for Liam’s wrists. “Speaking of which, let’s keep these in your lap, yeah?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why wouldn’t anyone...why would they keep...ugh!” Liam shouted, throwing his hands in the air and the flowers on the counter flew to pieces, the petals raining down on the two of them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn started laughing when a pink petal landed on Liam’s nose and caused him to sneeze, sending even more petals flying through the air. “Well, you definitely take after your father with an affinity for nature spells,” Zayn said, grinning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam kept shaking his head but he’d dropped his hands to run over the petals that had fallen around him. “Magic is real.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yep,” Zayn told him, reaching for some plastic wrap and working it around Liam’s bicep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait,” he said, putting a hand over Zayn’s. “I can’t hear them as loudly when you cover them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand, but they need to be covered to heal,” Zayn explained, his voice sad but firm and Liam let go to allow him to finish, frowning as the tickling on his arm slowed down and the whispers became indistinguishable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Zayn was done, he took the hand he offered to help him to his feet and followed as Zayn exited out a backdoor into a hallway that led to a door to the outside. Instead of exiting, they went up a flight of stairs to a small flat above the shop. Boris walked over to a bed against one wall and curled up, watching Pete move throughout the space sniffing and familiarizing himself while Liam did the same with his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn moved through the sitting area to a small kitchen, pulling two mugs down from a cabinet and putting the kettle on the stove. “Chamomile, alright?” he asked and Liam nodded. “You can sit. I’m going to go change and grab my computer. I think we should Skype my dad; he might be better at all of this than I am.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam couldn’t will himself to move from the top of the stairs, his head still spinning. He had a hard enough time believing magic was real, let alone that he was magic but he looked down at the crushed petals in his hands and couldn’t find any other explanation. He closed his eyes, trying to pull forward memories and, unlike the years since his family’s deaths, they flew at him as soon as he put any effort towards them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mind raced between memories of him and his father in the garden at their house to his mother in the kitchen. The memories of her seemed normal, no magic involved but he couldn’t be sure because as he remembered her cooking a part of him thought she must’ve been magic because everything she made was delicious. His mind stuttered as he thought about his sisters coming back from their years abroad and talking about it with him, about the magic they’d learned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicola talked about being able to commune with spirits and shared her gift with those who were lost in their grief. Liam had hidden a few times while she’d counseled people and was always amazed by the things she had come up with but he’d still held his doubts. He was starting to think he should’ve believed her all along.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Roo had always had an affinity for animals and after she’d returned from her year abroad, everything had increased. Injured animals would show up on their doorstep and she’d nurse them back to health, sometimes within hours and Liam had been amazed but believed it was because she’d always wanted to be a vet and spent days upon days reading through books about animal care. She had such big dreams for the future.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They weren’t supposed to die. They were supposed to be alive and meet him at the airport when he returned from his own year abroad with a knowledge of his own magic, his own specialty. Zayn said he was good with nature but as he remembered Pete flying back at him from the street and Niall’s mysteriously disappearing hangover, he was beginning to wonder if there was more to his magic and if he’d ever be able to find out without having had his year abroad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He startled when Zayn touched his arm, teeth digging into his lower lip and eyes glazed with concern. “Alright?” Liam shook his head. “Confused?” He nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn frowned but tugged gently to lead Liam to the sofa. His laptop was sitting open on the coffee table, a man that must have been his father on the screen, a similar look of concern on his face. “Good evening, Liam,” he said, voice gentle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello,” Liam responded, eyes tracing the man’s face, searching his memory for anything that matched. “You used to come to our house,” he said and then frowned. “You came to Aunt Tilly’s.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been about two months after his family had been killed and Liam had been walking home from work. This man, Zayn’s father, was standing on the front porch arguing with Aunt Tilly who had thrown up her hands and gestured to Liam as he approached before going back into the house and slamming the door. “Your name is Yaser. You and my father were friends.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s right, Liam.” He glanced at Zayn. “Do you remember what happened when I saw you at your Aunt’s?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’d gone for a walk to a nearby park and sat on the swings. Liam struggled to remember what they’d talked about but he remembered walking away and returning to his aunt’s house, but the rest was a blur. “I don’t remember,” he said with a sigh. “It’s all fuzzy.” He rubbed at the center of his forehead where pain was beginning to form.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Liam, I offered to have you come stay with us so you could remain among those with magic, train with a Malik elder, but you turned me down. You said you needed to stay with family, but I suspect you were still upset with Zayn about something and didn’t want to see him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam looked over at Zayn who ducked his head and ran a hand over the back of his neck. He wanted to ask, wanted to pull the memory but as soon as he tried, the pain between his eyes came back again. He rubbed at it and glared at Yaser who frowned in return. “After you refused, I had to put a spell on you to block your memories, to alter them because you were choosing to live amongst the non-magical people. That’s what’s causing the headaches now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you make it stop?” Liam asked. “Please?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could strengthen it and take away all of your memories again. You could go on without any knowledge of magic or that you are,” Yaser explained. “The pain would be gone and you would have no knowledge of anything that’s happened in the past couple of weeks since you managed to stumble upon Zayn’s shop.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um,” Zayn spoke up. “That might be a problem.” Yaser turned his eyes to him and let out a large sigh. “I tattooed Liam.” He held his hands up when his father opened his mouth. “You told us he was dead! I thought...I don’t know what I thought,” he admitted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know what you thought,” his father mumbled before turning his attention back to Liam. “Well, the choice has been taken from you, I suppose. Although, if you agree to do a mentorship under a trained warlock, you are more than welcome to have your memories returned and stay in the life you’ve already created for yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I refuse the training?” Liam asked, although he was already growing curious about magic and just what he could do. He glanced at Zayn, wanting to know more about the history between the two of them because he might not know much but he knew enough that it was obvious there had been something there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There would be consequences,” Yaser told him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then I’ll agree,” Liam responded, not liking the way Yaser had said those words. “What do I need to do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The conversation that followed made Liam’s head hurt even more as Yaser offered to converse with the head elder of the Malik family to see if they would be willing to train him even though he was older than the traditional age. He’d have to explain the circumstances surrounding Liam’s awakening. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What if he refuses?” Liam asked. “What if he doesn’t want a grown up to train?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We will find someone,” Yaser assured him before signing off, his eyes piercing into Zayn’s before the connection was lost.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn stood from the sofa and went into the kitchen, picking up the mugs and bringing them over. “Hopefully, they’re still warm enough.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened?” Liam asked as he took the mug and held it to his mouth, sipping the cooling liquid and letting it fill him. He could feel the calm filling him and even leaned back into the sofa with a sigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete’s head lifted at the sound and he climbed off of Boris to cross over and hop up into Liam’s lap. Liam ran his hands over his ears and looked at Zayn who was studying the insides of his cup intently. “What happened between us?” he clarified. “If we were friends, which is what you told me, why would I refuse to live with you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a bit of a story,” Zayn said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t have any plans. Not really sure I should be around Niall until I hear back from your father.” He set the mug down on the table and turned sideways on the sofa to face Zayn, reaching out to take his mug away as well. “So, start talking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn’s shoulders drooped and he pushed himself to stand. He held up a hand when Liam started to ask where he was going so he waited, watching as Zayn crossed to the bookshelves and pulled down a photo album before returning to the sofa and sitting down a little closer to Liam, his thigh pressed up to Liam’s knee as he opened the album across their laps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first thing Liam noticed was the movement, the photos literally coming to life in front of him. He realized the movements were repetitive but they were definitely movements, it was like Live Photos from the iPhone had been put into the album and he hesitated to touch them. “They’re moments in time,” Zayn explained. “Like an echo, it just keeps repeating.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like my tattoo,” Liam said, brushing his fingers over his tattoo and feeling the tickling running through it, voices muffled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The tattoo is a communing spell. It’s more like a connection to the dead. It’s why your image moves but doesn’t speak,” Zayn explained. “If you hadn’t noticed that yet. You really didn’t get much time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, that’s really them? Telling me they miss me?” Liam asked, tugging at the edges of the plastic, wanting it off so he could hear their voices again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn reached over, pulling up the tape and gently unwrapping the plastic and revealing the tattoo, the colours looked even more vibrant to Liam and his breath caught at the smile on his mother’s face. “Can they see me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Zayn said, frowning. “No more than they normally can from the spirit world. These are more like voiceboxes for them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam nodded. “Hi,” he said and jumped when the tickling sensation went crazy and his sisters started giggling. Tears sprung to his eyes as his mum rubbed up and down. “They don’t move a lot?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As it heals, they will be able to move a little bit more but they can’t go much outside the edges of the tattoo.” He grinned. “Can’t have any of them escaping.” He pointed to the snake on his shoulder above the changing tattoo that still looked like Liam. “This little bugger likes to go on adventures.” With his words, the snake slithered down his arm and off of his fingers over the floor, disappearing underneath the door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’ll be back,” Zayn said with a shrug. “Besides, he’s harmless.” He stood. “I’m going to get some food for Boris and Pete, give you some time to spend with your family. Remember, the spell gets stronger as it heals, so don’t get too frustrated if they aren’t as chatty as you are starting to remember.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam watched Zayn go, his heart tightening as a memory of a much younger Zayn walking away. The feelings in the memory were hurt and anger and Liam struggled to recall the cause of those emotions but they only made his head hurt more. He hoped the head of the Malik line would be able to mentor him so that these memory blocks could be removed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Honey?” his mum’s voice broke through his thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, mum, just lost in my own head,” he said, smiling down at her image. He wanted to brush a finger over his skin but knew he needed to wait until it was completely healed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You always did that,” his father said and Liam watched his hand squeeze his image’s bicep, a sense memory running through him of his father doing just that when he was still alive. “The dreams and worries were bigger than anything outside.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam chuckled. “Never stopped, even after you were gone.” He wiped at the tears in his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Grew up too soon,” Roo’s voice said. “Too much responsibility.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Survived,” his father said, the one word doing more to soothe his worries than anything the others had said. He blinked back tears and nodded his head just as Pete came over and tried to climb up into his lap, nosing at Liam’s wrist. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam sat and talked for a while, his family responding from time to time. Short sentences but it was more than he had in so long that his heart felt full by the time Zayn came back into the room carrying a stack of bedding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thought you might want to rest,” he said, biting into his lip. “I have an appointment downstairs and the sofa turns into a bed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A yawn escaped Liam as he debated just heading back to his own flat and the exhaustion he’d been too distracted to feel began to overtake him. Rising to his feet, he helped Zayn get the sofa bed set up. Zayn rewrapped his arm before he left him behind. Boris and Pete both hopped up onto the bed as Liam got settled, the both of him pressing close, their warmth lulling him into a sense of peace as sleep overtook him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam’s dreams were full of flashing lights and images that shifted so quickly he couldn’t keep track of them. The feelings washing over him weren’t uncomfortable or anxious instead he was filled with relief. The feeling of having found something that had been missing for far too long. When he woke he felt better rested than he had in years before the sound of his phone broke through the fog of just waking up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rolling over, he saw Pete standing with his front paws on the bed, phone in his mouth. “Thanks, Pete,” he said, taking the phone and seeing an unknown number. He ignored it only to have it start ringing again. “Hello?” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Liam?” a woman’s voice asked. “This is Darla from the animal shelter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Darla,” he said and Pete’s head snapped up, his lips curling back a bit. Liam narrowed his eyes. “You got my note? Everything okay over there?” She launched into a story about a death in the family of the owners of the shelter before cutting herself off and asking about Pete and when Liam could drop him off. “I think I want to keep him,” he said, running a hand over Pete’s head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh?” she asked. “That’s great! Can you just come in today to fill out the paperwork? So we can make it official?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam checked the time on his phone and stood from the bed. Pete scrambled to the floor and hurried over to the door, Boris moving a bit slower to catch up before they both looked at Liam expectantly. He moved to the door and yelped when he pulled it open to find Zayn standing on the other side, keys in hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Going somewhere?” he asked, frowning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have to go to the shelter Pete’s from.” He explained the situation and Zayn nodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me grab my stuff and I’ll come with you.” Liam started to argue but Zayn just grabbed Boris’ lead and a jacket before locking the door behind himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The walk to the shelter took longer than usual because Liam kept stopping and pointing at shops he’d never seen before, looking at Zayn who smiled and nodded. “I can’t believe there’s like entire parts of London I’ve never seen before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s entire parts of the world you haven’t seen before,” Zayn explained. “We used to make plans to travel and see so many things that humans have never heard of.” His smile fell after he said the words and he avoided looking Liam in the eye.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam reached out to tap his arm. “What happened? It sounds like we were pretty close but your dad said we’d had a fight.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can we talk about it later?” Zayn asked, rubbing his thumb against his upper lip and avoiding Liam’s gaze. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What did I do that was so awful that you can’t tell me?” He swallowed against the lump that filled his throat, trying to find more words but they weren’t there. He thought about how comfortable he’d been with Zayn since “meeting” him that first day in the tattoo parlour and couldn't imagine what he could’ve done to someone so nice to make his father think they wouldn’t want to be around each other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a tough situation that will be easier to explain once you have your memories unlocked.” He sighed and Boris nudged his thigh and woofed lowly. “Most magic families follow the same general rules, but sometimes there are differences. The Paynes were a bit more progressive than most families that had been around as long as them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s good to know,” Liam said, confusion filling him, wondering if there was some kind of terrible prejudice that drove a wedge between them. Liam was openly gay, had never tried to hide it, but maybe Zayn’s family was homophobic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When your sisters did their year abroad, they still talked to their friends here, right?” Liam furrowed his brows, trying to remember and eventually shrugging. “Sorry, I forgot. Most families treat the year abroad like an actual study year abroad but my family line treated it almost like something to be ashamed of, well not ashamed of, but to be kept secret. When my sister went, they could only talk to family. She was so angry because she lost her best friend in the process, but the Malik line was terrified of magic becoming common knowledge.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Probably a throwback to Merlin days,” Liam said and Zayn nodded his agreement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m slightly older than you. January 12th.” He pointed to himself and then to Liam. “August 29th. So, my year abroad started earlier than yours and when I told you that I was leaving, that I wouldn’t be able to talk to you until I go back…” He trailed off, dragging his hand down over his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A flash of heat went through Liam, starting in his gut and racing to his face, making his head spin. Stopping, he leaned against the wall next to him trying to make sense of everything. Images flashed through his mind, images that made the skin of Liam’s face flush red and he dropped his head back against the wall with a thud. In a moment, Zayn was in front of him, close enough that their chests were brushing and the smell of smoke filled Liam’s nose, grounding him as Zayn ran a hand over the back of Liam’s hand, lifting it away from the wall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was angry. We were making out and you stopped kissing me to tell me and I got angry,” Liam said, his voice high and breathless. “I told you that if you left and didn’t contact me I wouldn’t be here when you got back.” Zayn’s forehead dropped, his hair brushing Liam’s chin as he nodded. “We were more than just friends, weren’t we?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A lot more,” Zayn whispered, his voice rough and Liam was unsurprised to see tears in his eyes when he looked up. “You’re my everything.” Liam didn’t miss the use of present tense and the way it warmed him from within. “And I was yours, or at least I was until that moment.” A quiet sob escaped him, his body shuddering against Liam’s.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without even thinking about it, he wrapped his arms around Zayn and pulled him closer. He’d dropped Pete’s lead and wrapped a hand around the back of Zayn’s neck, pulling him close and ducking his face into his shoulder before burying his nose in his hair. Breathing deeply, the smoke and paint smell familiar in a way that made Liam’s heart ache.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The dogs started barking, pulling Liam back to the present just as there was a slithering feeling running over Liam’s arm. Glancing down, he saw Zayn’s snake moving over his arm and back into place on Zayn’s bicep. Zayn raised his head and looked at the snake, eyes widening for a moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We have to go,” he told Liam, grabbing his hand and dragging him down the street. The dogs picked up the ends of each other’s lead and ran after them and Liam would have laughed if he wasn’t so busy trying to stay upright as he was pulled faster and faster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They reached the shelter and Liam reached to push the door open, jerking his hand back at the last second as a spark shocked through him. He shook his head out, glaring at Zayn as he laughed at him. “Same thing happened at your shop,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s the magic identifying you. If, by chance, a human were to discover one of our places, the spark would ‘reset’ them,” Zayn explained. “Once you’ve touched the door once though, it recognizes you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, the shelter is magic?” Liam asked and Zayn nodded. “But I’ve been seeing this place since I moved in, I just never went inside.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pete?” Zayn asked and the pup looked up at him. “How long have you been here?” Pete barked and Zayn nodded like he understood. “Pete is yours. He’s been here since your family died.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d remember having a dog,” Liam said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t remember you had a boyfriend,” Zayn said as he pulled the door open and Liam followed him inside, Darla standing behind the counter with a big smile on her face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Zayn!” she greeted, moving around the counter to hug Zayn while Liam watched. Pete yipped around their ankles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You two know each other?” Liam asked, feeling a flare of jealousy that he assumed made sense considering their newly discovered past but still didn’t sit quite right when not all of his memories had been returned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The shelter is a place for familiars,” Darla explained. “I had a strange feeling when Pete reacted so positively to you but didn’t recognize you as part of the magic community and you didn’t react to the card, so I thought for sure it was some kind of mistake.” Pete growled and she glanced down at him. “Hush, you,” she said. “As far as we knew, the entire Payne line had died in that crash.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait? You all thought I was dead?” Liam asked, his mind going back to Zayn saying something along those lines to his father. Zayn shrugged, looking embarrassed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When you went to live with your Aunt Tilly, my father returned and said that they’d been mistaken, that you were in the car when it crashed. I told you how he felt about non-magic friendships and young magic users.” He was defending his father but his eyes kept darting away from Liam’s gaze, softening the anger that was growing inside of him. “When you walked into the shop, I thought I was seeing a ghost.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A ghost, really?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he said, pointing to Liam’s arm. “Communer, remember?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Never going to understand all of this,” Liam muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But...Pete,” Darla said. “Zayn. You found us? And the key. The mailbox let you take the key!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s still...glitching,” Zayn said, struggling for a word that seemed to fit as well as any other to explain Liam’s malfunctioning brain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe this will help,” Darla said, reaching under the counter and pulling out an ornate silver and black box. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that?” Zayn asked, reaching out and running a hand in the air around the box.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was my father’s,” Liam said. “He kept it in his office.” Darla nodded and Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out the key and gaped at it. When he’d first found it, he’d been amazed by the metalwork but now he could see a solid onyx wrapped into the bow of it, matching the box perfectly. He began to doubt everything he’d ever seen and believed in his life until now and almost feared getting his memories back to see how much his world view would be changed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Holding his breath, he slid the key into the keyhole and turned, the lid popping open with a quiet click and a flash of light sending Liam stumbling back. When he was done blinking away the black spots in his vision, he saw Zayn and Darla watching him with concern. “Didn’t you see the light?” They shook their heads in unison but smiles crossed their faces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Moving slowly, Liam lifted the lid of the box and found that it contained a book and several file folders. On the very top was a letter in what he realized was his father’s handwriting. Picking it up carefully from the edges, he frowned at the formal tone of the letter addressed to “Whom it May Concern” rather than Liam like anyone could have discovered the box and opened it. He glanced from the key to Darla who was talking to Zayn, the both of them watching him out of the corners of their eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The letter basically stated that the contents belonged only to a member of the Payne family and in the event of the end of their line due to ‘tragedy beyond imagine,’ the contents were to be held for one hundred years before being turned over to any surviving member of the Malik line. Liam understood the formal tone now and took less offense as he set the letter aside and pulled out the book, nearly dropping it when Zayn let out a gasp. “What?” he asked, tingles running up his arms as he moved to open the book.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Liam, do-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another flash of light blinded Liam sending a burning heat through him that knocked him off his feet. He landed on his bum and blinked his eyes trying to bring his vision back but found himself in a different place than where he’d been moments before. “Freaking portkey?” he muttered to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Always thought that Potter nonsense caused more harm than good to the magic world,” a familiar voice said and when he blinked again, his father was squatting in front of him, a warm welcoming smile on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Am I dead?” Liam asked, remembering the pain and beginning to panic, his fingers digging into the soft earth beneath him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, just visiting,” his father said, reaching a hand out to pull him to his feet and Liam marveled at the cool touch. “Since you’re here, I can assume you found the box and the key. I knew Pete would take good care of it for me and as long as he was alive, you had to be somewhere in the world.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam ran his hands over his dad’s arms before throwing his arms around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder, not even caring that he was acting like a child, especially when his father’s arms wrapped around him in return. After Liam’s tears slowed down, his father patted him on the back and pulled out of the hug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t have a lot of time,” his father explained. “That box has information on all of the Payne family assets, things you will probably need. Everything belongs to you, as long as-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I get proper training,” Liam finished for him and his father nodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unfortunately, you are the only remaining Payne,” his father explained. “The elder you were going to see was meant to pass on the helm to me after your training was complete, but with my death he held it until his own and with his passing, you became the last remaining Payne.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who will train me?” Liam asked, understanding why Yaser seemed so concerned with finding someone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ideally, Elder Malik but that is entirely up to him. There are a few other families that I trust, all of their names are in the book. It is our family’s Book of Shadows, to be shared with no one who is not part of our family.” Liam nodded seriously. “Which means when you marry Zayn, he will be allowed to look at it, but until then he cannot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam sputtered and choked. “I’m not going to marry Zayn!” he said, although the words sounded false even as they passed his lips and a zing of sadness shocked his heart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His father gave him a knowing smile before frowning. “It’s time for you to go,” he said and Liam nodded but threw himself in for another hug which his father returned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is it really you? The tattoo? Is it your voices?” Liam asked, needing to know for sure that the words he’d heard and would hear in their voices would really be coming from them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s really us, son. Really and truly us. We love you. Don’t ever forget that we love you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The room spun and Liam blinked to find himself staring up at the ceiling of the shelter, Darla and Zayn looking down at him with concern while Pete and Boris licked at his face. He made a move to sit up and Zayn hurried to help him, allowing him to lean back on him while he got his bearings. “You can’t look at the book,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I figured as much. What else is in the box?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam struggled to his feet, wondering why Zayn wasn’t asking what had happened and where he’d gone, but he realized that most likely hadn’t gone anywhere except to the floor. He continued to lean on Zayn, leeching as much of his warmth as he could and ignoring his father’s voice in his head saying, “When you marry Zayn”. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He moved the book to the side, smiling when Pete managed to climb the side of the counter and lay his head on the book. He ran a hand over his ears before reaching into the box and pulling out the first file folder. Flipping it open, he found what looked like a bank ledger but he didn’t recognize the name of the bank.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Magic bank?” he asked and rolled his eyes when Zayn laughed and nodded. “Do I have to worry about strange magic money or anything?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it’s all the same,” Zayn responded as he looked over Liam’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The number at the bottom of the last page was larger than Liam had ever seen in his life and he choked a bit. “It can’t be that much,” he whispered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It looks like there’s login info,” Zayn said, tapping a sticky note on the inside cover of the folder that held the ledger. He pulled out his phone and tapped an icon Liam had never seen before. “Yeah, we’re going to have to get you a new phone,” he teased.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn logged him into his account using the info in the folder and the total online was far higher than the one that was written in the ledger, which made sense since it hadn’t been updated since his family had been killed. He studied the debits and credits, most of them due to interest but there were a few large deposits each month listed as coming from Herowell Life. He must have stared too long because Zayn touched his arm, the spark they shared softer and comforting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s an insurance company. Your parents must have had a large plan to still be paying out that amount each month after all of these years.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It should have been a comfort but it made Liam feel slightly ill and even a little bit angry that his parents had worked so hard to provide for him and he’d had to struggle in their absence. He’d missed out on so many things he’d wanted to do because he had to work too much just to survive. He closed his eyes and focused on the good feeling, the intent of his parents and not the twist of fate that had screwed him over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow.” Darla’s voice distracted him and he opened his eyes to see the flowers that were sitting in a vase on the counter moving slowly within their vase, the water agitating and the petals growing brighter as they watched.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nature,” Liam said and Zayn smiled. “Pretty cool.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They continued to go through the box, discovering the deed and keys to a house in the Cotswalds as well as to a flat that was around the corner from Zayn’s shop. By the time they reached the bottom of the box, a photo album was located, filled with photos and drawings that looked like they dated back to the days of Merlin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sun had set completely and the night was quiet when they left, the box under Liam’s arm, and headed back to Zayn’s. “I can quit my jobs,” he said and Zayn nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam thought about it, thought about living a life of leisure for the first time in his life and felt fear instead of anticipation. “No, at least not the grocery store. I’m looking forward to being a manager, but I’ll have to when I have to leave for training.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can apply for a leave. It’ll get approved. They always do,” Zayn said and Liam believed him because he was beginning to realize that Zayn didn’t lie unless it was to protect someone or something he cared about. When they reached the door to the shop, he looked at Liam. “Do you want to spend the night?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Yeah, I do,” he answered, returning the bright smile that crossed Zayn’s face; he really didn’t relish the idea of leaving him, they’d already missed so much time together and he wanted to learn more.  “I should text Niall so he doesn’t worry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn left him as he headed into the bathroom saying he was going to take a quick shower. Niall didn’t pick up so Liam left him a message, wondering how his friendship would change when he disappeared for a year. His flatmate was pretty laid back, but also fiercely loyal and he wasn’t sure he’d accept any excuse he gave him. After all, Liam hadn’t been very understanding of Zayn and he knew about magic then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he hung up, Liam realized he didn’t have anything to sleep in and debated knocking on the bathroom door to ask Zayn if he had anything he could borrow but was distracted by an incessant chiming from Zayn’s laptop still on the coffee table. Looking over his shoulder to the bathroom, he still heard the shower running. He debated what to do but Boris made the decision by coming into the room, Pete on his heels, and nudging the laptop so the screen lit up. Then he jumped up and pressed his paw to the mousepad opening up Skype.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaser was smiling when his face appeared. “Boris! Who’s a good boy?” Boris huffed and looked at Pete who wagged his tail as he tried to see over the edge of the table and at the screen. “Who is this?” Boris barked twice. “Pete, huh? You must be Liam’s familiar.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can understand them?” Liam asked, moving to sit on the sofa and face Yaser.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Liam!” Yaser greeted, sounding just as fond and a lot less exasperated than he had earlier in the day. “Where’s Zayn?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shower,” Liam responded. “You can understand the dogs? What exactly is a familiar? Darla said the shelter was for familiars. Are there a lot of those?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, one question at a time,” he teased and Liam felt his shoulders relax. “Yes, I can understand Boris because I’ve known him for years. I’ll probably learn to understand Pete.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Zayn understood Pete and he’s only known him for a few days,” Liam pointed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Another of Zayn’s gifts,” his father explained. “He communes with the afterlife and animals. It gets to be interesting around pet cemeteries.” Another chuckle. “A familiar is a companion for magic users. Usually an animal of some type or another, but I’ve heard tales of human familiars. I’ve never met one myself so I can’t tell if that's the truth or myth. The familiars usually come to the person either during their training or shortly after.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Roo’s cat and Nic’s sugar glider?” Liam asked and Yaser nodded. “And Watson was my father’s!” He looked thoughtful. “My mother didn’t have one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your mother was human,” Yaser told him. “You and your sisters are only half-magic but the Payne line was strong enough that it didn’t dilute your magic in any way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that why they were killed?” Liam asked, suddenly wondering if he should be fearing for his life, if there were some Malfoy-esque pureblood families out there hunting down those of mixed descent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is why Harry Potter should be banned,” Yaser said with a snort. “Well, that and the author is a mess.” He shook his head, turning serious again. “It truly was an accident that robbed you of your family, Liam. A really terrible accident due to stupid people who don’t know not to get behind a wheel while drinking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam wasn’t sure if he felt better or worse knowing that it was an accident, that he was simply orphaned and left in a world he didn’t know with memories that were shattered and glued back together in a mess that he always attributed to some flaw in his own makeup. He wiped at his eyes, startling when Zayn put a hand on his shoulder, his hair still wet and dripping on the Batman shirt he was wearing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you find someone to train Liam?” he asked his father when neither of them gave any indication what they had been talking about that had made Liam cry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, yes and no,” Yaser said. “I found someone to train you but according to all of the elders I’ve spoken to in the past few hours, you might not need the same type of training you would’ve gotten at fifteen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t understand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have to give you your memories back and see how much of your knowledge may have developed in the closed off part of your mind without you even being aware of it. Elder Whittleman said that the spell I used may have splintered and grown, morphing and pulling knowledge from my own magic.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That sounds complicated,” Liam said and Zayn nodded in agreement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is and very rare.” He picked up a book next to him that looked similar to the Payne Book of Shadows. “There is only a few witches and warlocks that were able to speed through or even skip their training due to a spell having been cast on them for one reason or another. And most of those spells were malicious in nature, my spell on you was definitely not.” His voice was pleading and Liam felt guilty for being upset when they’d spoken earlier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, so what do we do? How do we find out?” Liam asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are the two of you alone?” Yaser asked. “No one in the tattoo shop?” They nodded in response. “Okay, I want to say this won’t hurt a bit, but it might. It will definitely be overwhelming.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A flash of fear ran through Liam but Zayn’s hand on his centered him. He flipped his hand and linked their fingers together, squeezing gently. He took a few deep breaths, smiling when Pete climbed into his lap and Boris laid across his feet. He closed his eyes, focusing on the warmth surrounding him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Zayn, unwrap the tattoo. His family’s voices will help,” Yaser said and Liam kept his eyes closed as Zayn peeled back the plastic wrap. “Okay, take his hand again. Pete and Boris, just be yourselves.” Both dogs gave small whimpers and Pete pressed his cold nose to the underside of Liam’s chin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaser continued speaking in a language that Liam didn’t recognize but that flowed beautifully through his head. He heard Zayn join in at one point, the two voices counterpoints in his ears creating a lulling rhythm that had him feeling like he was going to fall asleep. Zayn’s voice trailed off first and then Yaser’s.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as Yaser stopped speaking, Liam’s mind was filled with flashing images. They moved too quickly for him to identify what he was seeing no matter how much he tried. He wondered if he was dying and this was his life flashing before his eyes but nothing was familiar even in abstract. The longer it went on the faster the images went until he felt like he was going to vomit. He felt hands on his wrists and Zayn’s panicked voice shouting his name.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The images stopped in an explosion of lights like the biggest fireworks display he’d ever seen. He blinked his eyes, his temples pounding, to find Zayn looking at him with concern and his hair filled with a mess of lilies. Liam choked on a laugh, the pain in his head easing as tears streamed down his cheeks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once the pain was gone, he saw an image of him sitting on his bed with Roo while she played with a litter of kittens that a stray had delivered on their doorstep. Magic flowed from her fingers as she ran them over the animals and Liam could feel the warmth in the memory. His mind jumped to sitting with a much younger Zayn in a tent and whispering secrets about magic and what they would do when they grew up, every plan including the two of them together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to marry you,” child-Zayn whispered and Liam’s heart stuttered in his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The memories kept coming and Liam’s tears kept flowing. He started talking, sharing the memories and listening to Zayn and Yaser commenting quietly, sharing their own memories of the events. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the memories finally slowed and exhaustion started sneaking in, Liam opened his eyes again smiling at Zayn’s flowers again. “I did that, didn’t I?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You did,” Yaser said. “Now, can you do it on purpose?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I...I don’t know,” Liam said. “What do I do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re trying to find out if you need training,” Yaser reminded him. “Close your eyes and see if you can call up the knowledge.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam did what he was told and he couldn’t seem to find a single thought that would tell him how to make flowers appear. He really didn’t want to leave Zayn or Niall or his job for a year, he didn’t want to be alone again. His heart sped up and he could feel panic beginning in his chest but he refused to let himself lose it. Taking a deep breath, he held his hands out in front of him and pictured the flowers, pictured the stems tangling through dark tresses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes flew open when Zayn burst into laughter. Glancing over, the flowers were still there but there didn’t seem to be anymore. Zayn jerked his chin toward the laptop and Liam couldn’t help the laugh that escaped at the sight of Yaser with orange flowers in his hair. He rolled his eyes at their laughter but gave a small chuckle himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There is definitely some knowledge in there,” he admitted. “Now, let’s try something else.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They spent close to an hour on the laptop with Yaser and by the end of the conversation, Liam had managed to make one of Zayn’s vine plants chase Pete around the living room before tripping him up and wrapping around him. The vine dropped Pete into Liam’s lap and then retreated back into the pot. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A yawn from Liam drew the call to a close. “I think you’re going to be alright. The knowledge seems to be there somewhere, you just have to practice, but everyone practices every day of their life so you are pretty much on par with most.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, no year aboard?” Liam asked, hopefully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Yaser answered with a smile. “But Trisha will require the two of you to come for at least a week in Bradford.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That I can do,” Liam said, smiling at Zayn. “We can do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Talk to you soon,” Zayn said and they signed off. “You’re pretty fucking amazing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam felt his cheeks warm as he ducked his head. As they’d worked with Yaser, more memories of time with Zayn had been coming back to him. The love he’d felt for Zayn filled him in a way none of the guys he’d dated since his family died ever had. He bit his lip as one of the memories kept replaying in his mind and he knew that he would have to check the boxes that were in Aunt Tilly’s attic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking at Zayn, seeing him in a new light, his heart felt full again; he felt more complete than he had in years. Snapping his fingers, a red rose appeared and he handed it over to Zayn with a grin. He took it carefully before leaning closer, his eyes locked on Liam’s. Nodding slightly, Liam leaned forward and brushed their lips together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as they touched, the now familiar spark shocked through Liam’s system and the air around them filled with rose petals. He pulled back in shock, smiling at the petals as they floated slowly to cover them and the sofa, one landing on Boris’ nose and causing him to sneeze. “Well, that was unexpected.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you still need to work on your control,” Zayn commented, picking up one of the petals and rubbing it between his fingers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Guess, I’ll have to stay here for a few more days,” Liam teased, his laugh dying on his lips at the hopeful expression in Zayn’s eyes. He bounced up and down on the sofa cushions. “This seems pretty comfortable.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Or you could sleep with me,” Zayn said, biting into his lower lip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, uh.” Liam ducked his head again, rubbing a palm over the back of his neck. “I...I’d like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They stood from the sofa at the same time and Liam followed Zayn down the hall towards the bedroom. He should’ve felt nervous but he just felt like he’d done this a million times before even though they’d never done anything more than kissing and making out. He wasn’t sure he wanted to do anything other than that yet but he still wanted to follow him, wanted to see if the tattoos on his arms stretched across his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they reached the room, Zayn crossed to the dresser. “I usually just sleep in my pants, but if you want me to…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s fine. I sleep that way, too,” Liam said and tugged his shirt over his head. He felt a tickle and looked down at his arm. “Do we need to rewrap this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn, who had removed his shirt, moved closer and studied the tattoo. He tilted his head and whispered a few words. A sheen covered the skin of Liam’s arm. “It’s like temporary skin,” he explained. “It’ll protect it while you sleep, in case you roll over on it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cool.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn turned to step away when Liam’s eye was caught by the tattoo on his arm. “Wait a second. That was a girl,” he said, reaching for Zayn’s forearm and stopping him in his tracks. He reached out a hand to run his fingers over the lines that had morphed completely from a girl in a crop top and leather jacket into a cartoon likeness of Liam, right down to the birthmark on his neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you see?” Zayn asked, breathless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I see me, Zayn. How...why do you have me tattooed on your arm?” He heard his sisters’ muffled giggles and glared at his own arm, feeling like he was missing out on a joke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a soulmate tattoo,” Zayn said. “It’s a special form of magic. I always thought you were my soulmate, especially when I thought you’d died and it felt like a part of me had been ripped out. When you came back, I felt the piece knitting back into place but I had to know for sure before I tattooed you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s why it wasn’t there the first time we met. But I didn’t see it when you did the outlines. I didn’t see it until earlier and it was a girl then,” Liam said, realizing just how much his world had changed in less than twenty-four hours, the exhaustion becoming a heavy weight in his limbs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because you didn’t have your magic,” Zayn explained. “You wouldn’t have been able to handle it, so the tattoo protected itself and you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam studied it, running his fingers over it. “Will it move?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. My cousin did it; this is his specialty,” Zayn explained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Will he do one for me?” Liam asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Trying to see if it won’t be me?” Zayn teased.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam laughed. “I have no doubt that it’ll be you,” he said, leaning in for another kiss, losing it in a yawn before it could become anything more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, let’s get some sleep. You work tomorrow, don’t you?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking at his watch as they climbed into bed, Liam groaned. “Later today, actually.” Reaching for his phone, he sent a text off to his boss explaining that there’d been a family emergency and he’d be missing a few days. He hoped it wouldn’t affect his new position, but knowing that he would be okay financially even if it did, made it a lot easier to send the text.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time he was done, Zayn was already snoring softly on the pillow next to him and Liam laid his head down and studied him, eyes tracing over his face. His lips quirked in a soft smile and Liam reached to trace a finger over it gently. “I loved you when I was a kid and I’m pretty damn sure I love you now,” he mumbled as the day finally caught up with him and pulled him into a dreamless sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After the excitement of the first two weeks since they’d become reunited, Liam’s life with Zayn became pretty mundane after that. They fell into a routine of seeing each other every day, trading off on who’s flat they stayed at. At the end of two months, Niall announced that he was moving back to Ireland for a job and Liam decided to move into the flat that his family had left him. He was completely settled the day he dropped Niall off at the airport and waved goodbye to his best friend who still had no idea what Liam was but knew him as well as any human could.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After he’d left the airport, he headed over to his Aunt Tilly’s. He hadn’t seen her in months but she welcomed him with open arms and a plate of his favourite cookies. He stayed and chatted with her for a couple of hours, catching up. He told her about Zayn and she was so happy for him. When Liam showed her a photo of the two of them, a normal human photo on his phone, she told a story about when he’d first moved in with her and he’d have dreams about a young dark-haired boy and spend hours telling her about him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, I guess your young man just reminds me of him,” she said and Liam had to bite back a laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he was ready to leave, he headed up into the attic to find the boxes he’d kept there, loading them into his car to take back to his flat. He had a couple of hours before Zayn would be coming over after work and he wanted to find something in the boxes and make dinner. He tried not to get caught up in memories as he dug through the boxes, relieved that they would still be in his head when he had more time to revisit them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finally found what he’d been looking for at the bottom of a box of trophies for running. When he pulled it out of the box, it wasn't as shiny as he remembered it but knew that it would hopefully still do the trick. Bouncing it in his hand once, he moved into the kitchen to cook dinner, slipping the item into his pocket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn knocked on the door about an hour later and Liam answered it before hurrying back to the oven to take the vegetable lasagne out. “Honey, I’m home,” he said as he came into the kitchen and Liam’s heart soared at the words. “Smells great.” He pressed a kiss to the back of Liam’s neck as he moved around to help by setting the table for the two of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They ate in silence, the weight in Liam’s pocket distracting him and he looked up to see Zayn studying him. “You alright?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam nodded, taking another bite of lasagne. Chewing slowly, he swallowed and put his fork down. He rubbed at his right bicep where he’d be getting his soulmate tattoo the next day, having waited until Niall left so he wouldn’t be given a hard time for getting Zayn tattooed on himself after such a short time. “I wanted to ask you something,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds serious,” Zayn said, setting down his fork as well and wiping at his mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam moved from his chair to the one that had been between them, sitting on it and turning to face Zayn. He licked his lips as he reached into his pocket and fisted the item. “Back when we were kids, the day that we fought, I had something I wanted to give to you but never did,” Liam started. “It’ll probably be silly now, but I’ve added something to it that I hope will make you happy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn’s eyes widened as he held out his hand, fingers still closed around the object. “Holy shit,” Zayn said. “Are you...is this…are you asking me to marry you?” He looked so hopeful that Liam felt like crap when he shook his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No...well, not yet.” He turned his hand over and set the object on the table and pushed it across the surface of the table toward Zayn. It was a keychain, with a pokeball and a small silver circle that said “My Best Catch” along with a heart and “Z+L” engraved into it. Attached to it was a key to Liam’s flat, what he was hoping would become </span>
  <em>
    <span>their</span>
  </em>
  <span> flat. “I was hoping you’d move in with me.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked up, expecting to see disappointment on Zayn’s face but instead his eyes were sparkling and he was grabbing the keychain off the table and holding it up in front of his eyes. “This is so sick!” he said. “Where did you get it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I had it made when I was in the Cotswalds,” he told him. “We were both so addicted to Pokemon, I thought it was perfect, especially since I was already half in love with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Only half?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was then,” he said with a shrug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And now?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now,” Liam said, grinning as Zayn stood off his chair and climbed into Liam’s lap, draping his arms over Liam’s shoulders and pressing their foreheads together. “Now, I am completely and totally in love with you. What about you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn held the keychain up and they watched the light glint off of it. “You know I love you. I never stopped. Then, now and forever, you will always be my best catch.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Laughing quietly, they shared a kiss and Liam felt even more memories begin to flood through him as he ignored the cheers from his family on his arm and the tickle of Zayn’s snake sliding from his shoulder to Liam’s arm and squeezing gently. Magic may not have been the answer to everything in his life, but he’d lived with and without it and having Zayn with it made it the best feeling in the world. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Kudos and comments feed my soul.</p><p>Come say 'hi' on tumblr; I'm 'josjournal' over there.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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